Many forms of arcade-type amusements and rides exist in the prior art. Many of these include a visual display to give to a person riding thereon the illusion of riding in a vehicle. Some of these arcade-type devices are simplified versions of more-elaborate flight simulators.
Such flight simulators attempt to create a realistic "look" and "feel" to a would-be pilot. To this end, the conventional flight simulator has a capsule which closely approximates the cockpit of a airplane or spacecraft. A visual display, typically as it would appear when looking forwardly through the windshield of the aircraft, is displayed immediately in front of the pilot. At the same time, the capsule or cockpit is supported on a number of actuators, which can be selectively operated, either independently or in combination with one another, to simulate the "feel" of certain attitudes of the vehicle, as directed by the pilot or as external disturbances. Such conventional flight simulators are generally installed in specialized facilities, and are operated by well-trained and disciplined personnel to insure satisfactory performance and safety. Examples of such flight simulators may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,645,011 and 3,967,387.
The arcade-type amusement device attempts to simulate the performance of such a flight simulator. However, while graphics displayed before the pilot or driver may be creative and interactive, such amusement-type devices have heretofore not been capable of great movement. One reason for this is cost. Another reason is that such arcade-type devices are commonly used by, or near, children, and the use of such devices is typically not directly supervised. Thus, personal safety is of paramount importance to the operator of such arcades. Examples of such amusement-ride simulators are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,071,352 and 4,066,256.
To allow reasonably-safe operation without direct supervision, these arcade-type devices have been constrained to permit only slow and limited motion, and possibly one, two or three degrees of freedom. Such limitations restrict the realism of the ride, the graphics of the display notwithstanding. As the demand for increased realism and higher performance has increased, the emphasis on safety during unsupervised operation has become increasingly important. At the same time, it would be generally desirable to provide arcade-type amusement rides which would allow for motion in more than three degrees of freedom.